


Shelter In My Arms

by scarletmanuka



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Starker Bingo 2019, Teacher AU, Teacher-Student Relationship, Tornado
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-20 00:36:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20218900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletmanuka/pseuds/scarletmanuka
Summary: Tony is a Physics teacher in a small town in Nebraska and Peter is his star pupil. One day after school, they must take shelter from a tornado.





	Shelter In My Arms

**Author's Note:**

> For the Starker Bingo square Teacher AU.
> 
> Age of consent is 17 in Nebraska but I've still tagged this underage since teacher/student fics skirt the line.

A tiny high school with less than three hundred kids in bumfuck nowhere Nebraska wasn’t exactly where Tony had pictured himself at thirty eight, but as he surveyed his classroom, his own little domain, filled with his student’s work and a framed photo of Einstein over the door, he couldn’t deny that he felt more at home here than he ever had in New York. After never being able to please his father, earning only scorn and criticism, he’d finally decided to stop trying, and had chosen to become a teacher instead. He vowed that he would give the encouragement and support that he had been denied as a child to his students, being the sort of mentor and role model that he wished he’d had had himself.

He’d moved around quite a lot, preferring small country towns where the kids didn’t always have access to the sorts of expertise that their city brethren did. He was a genius and wherever he taught, the kids excelled in Physics, and he would always start an electronics club so he could help nurture the engineers of the future. They weren’t always well attended, but Tony was a firm believer in quality, not quantity.

Take his current club for instance - he had only a single student who had signed up but he was by far the most gifted student that Tony had ever taught. Peter Parker was a genius, intelligent far beyond his years, much like Tony had been. He was enthusiastic, always happy, and also dirt poor. He lived with his aunt, who worked at the local diner, after being orphaned at a young age. His uncle had died not long afterwards and so his aunt had struggled to make ends meet, and they had been forced to move to their small town as they could no longer afford to live in Queens, where they were originally from. 

If they hadn't have moved, Tony had no doubts that Peter would have qualified for Mid-Town Tech, and then won a scholarship to MIT. As it was, he was top of all of his classes but their school was small fish and no one had been granted a scholarship to an elite university in over a decade. Tony was determined to do all that he could to get Peter the scholarship that he deserved and so, as well as teaching Peter in his Physics class four days a week, they spent three afternoons a week in Electronics Club working on as many projects as possible to give Peter an edge. 

At the moment, they were working on a rudimentary AI and Tony was often surprised to find that he looked forward to those afternoons more than he probably should. He’d not bothered to make friends here, having learned long ago that secrets were impossible to keep in small towns and he wanted his family ties to stay firmly in the past. If people were to find out that he was one of _ those _ Starks, he’d quickly lose what remained of his privacy. That meant that outside of work, he rarely spent time with any one person. Technically Electronics Club _ was _ work, but with it just being Peter and himself, it had begun to feel more social and less like teaching, which was the first red flag.

The next red flag was when he’d begun to notice the looks that Peter was throwing him. Tony was a good looking guy and so student crushes were in no way new to him. He’d had eyelashes fluttered at him from the first class he’d ever taught and he’d intercepted more notes passed in class than he could count that described in more detail than was necessary what the students would like him to do to them. Normally he would make note of the crush, be sure that he didn't single the student out or give them any reason to think that they were different to anyone else, and do all that he could to not give even a hint of encouragement. It was a fine line to walk as often students could take innocent praise for a good assignment as something entirely different. He’d had to have too many frank discussions with crushing students and the guidence councellor to make the boundaries abundantly clear over his career.

With Peter it was a little more difficult. He was so gifted and lacked anyone to mentor him that Tony felt strongly that he was needed in that role. Peter had blossomed under his guideance but so had the crush. When they spent so much time alone together, it was hard to pretend that Peter wasn't any different to anyone else because he _ was. _Tony was sure that he would be able to balance on the knife’s edge up until the day when he’d suddenly noticed how damn attractive Peter was - the third red flag. With his big brown eyes, creamy skin, and his eager expression, he was a pervert’s wet dream. Yes, he was seventeen and therefore of age, but Tony was still his teacher and it was all sorts of wrong for him to even be noticing such things about his student. However, no matter how much Tony mentally berated himself or tried to distract himself from his feelings, those red flags seemed to flutter in front of him like a bull in a ring and he seemed completely unable to keep his thoughts pure.

The school day came to an end on Friday and Tony braced himself for the session to come. Fridays were both the best and worst day for him. On Fridays, he didn't teach Senior’s Physics so he didn't get to see Peter until the end of the day but Peter was able to stay later than usual since there was no school the next day. This meant that they accomplished much more, but it gave Tony so much more time to be tempted into doing something utterly stupid and career-destroying. Having Peter look at him with adoration in his eyes just added to the torture as it was perfectly clear that despite anything happening between them being labled as completely unethical, in Peter’s eyes it would be very, very welcome. A glance outside at the stormy sky added to Tony’s woes - he would not be able to stop himself from offering Peter a lift home. Fighting with his own demons didn't trump basic chivalry and he wasn’t going to make Peter walk home in a thunderstorm.

Tony was still brooding over this when the door to his classroom opened and Peter bounded in, throwing his bag on the desk immediately in front of Tony’s but coming to a rest leaning against it. “Hi, Mr Stark!” Peter greeted him with a massive smile. “How was your day?”

Tony supressed a groan. Peter _ always _ asked how his day had been, without fail, and his lonely heart clung to that, having not had anyone to ask him for a long time. He couldn’t very well say _ ‘I’ve spent every minute waiting for the moment that you walk through my door’ _so he replied with a simple, “It was good. How was yours?”

Peter grinned. “Yeah, it was pretty good. I did have a question to ask about the homework that you set us yesterday if that’s okay but it can wait until the end.”

Tony smiled. “Of course - you know I’m always happy to help.”

“Thanks! So what are we doing today?”

“Well, my plan for this afternoon was to work on the coding for the AI some more. Is that okay with you?”

“Yeah, of course it is,” Peter replied. “I was thinking -”

He stopped mid-sentence as a deafening crack of thunder rumbled overhead, and a moment later the lights flickered out. Tony mentally cursed, but wasn’t sure if it was because a power outage would mean that their session would end prematurely or because being in the dark with Peter broke down the barriers and made it feel so much easier to just reach out and _ touch. _Before he could even say anything, a siren began to wail and Tony cursed out loud this time.

It was the tornado warning alarm.

“Shit.” They both hurried over to the window and a glance outside showed a volatile looking sky, dark and menacing. There was no sign of a funnel but that didn't mean there wasn’t one. Tony wasn’t going to take any chance with Peter’s safety and he placed a hand on the teen’s lower back and began to usher him over to the supply cupboard. It was a fully enclosed space with no windows and as one wall backed up against the boy’s bathroom on the other side, it was reinforced with pipes which made it the safest place to be. “Come on, Pete, in here, quickly now.”

Peter reached out and grabbed his backpack from the desk as they passed and allowed himself to be guided into the tiny cupboard. There was hardly room for the two of them to stand, but Tony shut the door firmly behind them anyway. The wail of the siren could still be heard in the confined space, but scarier still, so could the wind. It had begun to howl with a vengence and in the distance, there was a faint crash. “Mr Stark?” Peter whispered, his voice hoarse with fear.

“It’s okay, Peter, we’ll be safe in here,” he said, moving an inch closer until Peter’s back was brushing up against his chest. He put a comforting hand on his shoulder and pressed down gently. “Come on, let’s get down low, okay? Sit down on the ground with me.”

It was even more cramped sitting and Tony shuffled backwards until his back was against the door and he spread his knees wide, letting Peter settle into the V between them. He could feel Peter trembling and without even thinking about it, he wrapped one arm around Peter’s chest and pulled him flush against him. “Shhh, it’s okay, Pete, we’re going to be okay.”

“I’m scared,” Peter admitted in a small voice.

There was another crashing noise, from closer this time and the wind got even louder. “I know, so am I,” Tony admitted. “Why don’t you get your phone out and see if you still have signal? Let your aunt know where you are?”

He felt Peter nod and soon the dark space was lit up by the screen of Peter’s phone. Over the teen’s shoulder, Tony could see the no signal icon and he felt Peter sag in despair. 

“Hey, it’s okay, May knows your routine, so she’ll know that you’re with me,” he assured him.

“But is _ she _ gonna be okay?” Peter whispered.

Tony reached up with his other arm to hug Peter properly against him and he brushed a kiss to his hair. “I’m sure she will be. They’ll take shelter in the big walk in refridgerator, they’ll be safe.”

He felt fingers curl around his own as Peter clung to his hand. “Thanks, Mr Stark,” he murmured.

“Anything for you, Pete,” Tony replied absently as he listened as hard as he could to the noise coming from outside, trying to determine if a tornado had formed or if it was merely strong winds. He felt Peter stiffen in his arms and he replayed what he’d said, and froze.

Peter turned around in Tony’s arms until he was kneeling facing him and just before his phone screen locked and plunged them back into darkness, Tony saw the hope in his eyes. Fingers, trembling now not with fear but with anticipation, brushed along Tony’s jaw in the dark. “I wasn’t imagining it then?” Peter asked quietly.

Tony sighed. He hadn't been able to lie to himself and he certainly wasn’t going to be able to lie to Peter. “No, you weren’t,” he admitted, knowing Peter would understand.

Fingers traced their way over his bottom lip and he couldn’t help but brush his tongue across the tips. He heard Peter gasp and the fingers dipped between his lips then and he sucked on them gently. 

The sound of breaking glass startled them apart and the howl of the wind grew to be a roar. There was no question now - a tornado was upon them. “Let’s talk about this afterwards,” Tony told Peter, “but for now I want you to sit back down, let me keep you safe.”

“Okay,” Peter agreed, but before he turned back around, he darted forward in the dark and kissed Tony. He missed his target and only managed to kiss the corner of Tony’s mouth but it was sweet and perfect anyway.

Ignoring the way his lips seemed to burn with the kiss, Tony wrapped his arms back around Peter and hunched himself over him, shielding him with his body. The noise outside was deafening now and amongst the roar of the wind was the sound of debris being tossed around and even more glass shattering. Something big thumped against the cupboard door, causing them to both jump, and Tony’s arms tightened even more around the teen. Peter’s hands were clamped almost painfully to Tony’s forearms, holding on for dear life, and his head was tucked between his knees. Tony pressed a kiss to the back of his neck, offering him what small comfort he would as they listened to the sounds of the classroom beyond the door being ripped to shreds by the tornado.

As suddenly as it began, it was over. The wind was still loud but it was back down to a howl as the funnel moved away from them, and the sounds of debris colliding with the building ceased. They stayed there for a long moment, breathing hard and taking stock of the fact that they were both still in one piece. Then Tony staggered to his feet and pulled Peter gently up with him and he turned and opened the door. 

His classroom was almost completely destroyed. The far wall and windows had been pulled apart by the powerful winds and were gone, as were most of the desks and chairs. The chalkboard hung from its wall by one screw and Tony’s laptop was in a mangled heap in the far corner. The framed photo of Einstein that Tony had hung up above the door fell from its hook with a crash, shattering on the ground, a delayed casualty. The two of them surveyed the mess in shock and Tony reached out and linked his fingers with Peter’s squeezing gently to reassure himself that they were both alive.

“Wow,” Peter managed to choke out.

“Yeah,” Tony agreed. He pulled his own phone out of his pocket and saw that they still didn’t have any signal. “I don't think we’re going to be able to call your aunt yet. Shall we go and see if my car survived? If it did, we can try and make it through town so you can see her and make sure she’s okay.”

Peter bit his lip. “You’d do that? For me?” he asked.

Tony reached up and traced his finger down over the sharp contour of Peter’s cheekbone. In for a penny, in for a pound and it was too late to back out now. “Of course I would, Pete. Didn't you hear me earlier? I’d do anything for you.”

Big brown eyes stared up at him with wonder and adoration. “If we’re caught, you could lose your job.”

Tony snorted. “If we’re caught, I’ll probably go to jail.”

“Well then, I guess we’ll have to make sure that no one find out,” Peter said and then he was pushing up onto his tip toes until he could press a soft kiss to Tony’s lips. 

Tony kissed him back, cradling Peter’s face in his hands and when they broke apart, they were both smiling. “Shall we?” he asked.

Peter nodded and they crossed to the broken wall, stepped over the rubble, and made their way out into what looked like a war zone. They didn't touch but they stayed close and Tony was sure that they would remain that way for the indefinite future.


End file.
